Frank speaking is not always the right thing says Warren

The two Franks of British boxing promotion, Warren and Maloney, have fallen out over Lee McAllister quitting on his stool last Saturday night in Aberdeen.

Maloney was heavily critical of McAllister’s injury-enforced retirement after losing almost all of seven one-sided rounds against the European light-welterweight champion Denis Shafikov.

Saying that McAllister should have fought on with one hand, Maloney said: “He might have had a bad hand but you can still win a fight with one hand – that is my belief. I’m not in the ring so I don’t know what pain was going up his shoulder.

“I have never seen anyone quit like that in the corner when fighting for a title. He had an opportunity to shine and I know he got injured but it’s a very disappointing ending.”

Maloney may now be regretting his remarks as it has turned out that McAllister’s injury to his left arm is likely to finish his boxing career.

A hospital scan showed torn tendons below the elbow – the same injury which kept McAllister out of the ring for 14 months. A second scan later this month will confirm the extent of the damage but, if the tear is confirmed, there could be no alternative to permanent retirement for the “Aberdeen Assassin”.

McAllister said: “The injury is the same as the one which cost me 14 months out before – the tendons have been ripped from the elbow. If it is confirmed then I think that would be me finished.

“I cannot have another 14 months out, then start at the bottom again at 30 years old. If the scan proves positive then it might change my thoughts, but at the moment it is not looking good.”

During an interview about Ricky Burns’s forthcoming fight against Paulus Moses, Frank Warren made it clear that his sympathies lay with McAllister, and suggested that boxing could do without further such criticism from an insider like Maloney following the Chisora-Haye debacles.

“What do you expect from Frank Maloney?” said Warren. “I would never be critical of a fighter like that. Sometimes he speaks without thinking.

“What Frank Maloney said is his bag. The sport has taken a bit of flak over the past few weeks, but where I’m coming from is that I like to see the good about boxing, and that is Ricky Burns, an absolute gentleman and a credit to boxing and sport.

“Ricky and Nathan Cleverly – they’re the side of the sport we should be celebrating.”